what I saw on my commute

(I couldn't resist.)

my morning commute

I left work a little later than normal this morning and was able to enjoy the fog that I normally ride through in darkness.

And this is what I had for lunch: Bachelor Meal #17 (a holdover from the actual bachelor days) - tofu, peas, and rice. I made a big batch of it when Adria went to work for a couple of days. We were talking on the phone one evening and she asked what I had for dinner. I told her "peas, tofu, and rice." She asked, "Well, did you at least use brown rice?" "Nope", I said. White rice is what makes it a Bachelor Meal.

We all need to be on bikes more

(My commute home, two miles from home.)

I haven't been doing the full-boogie bike commute to and from work lately.

It's been really rainy.

It's been really cold.

I can't figure out how to make my disc brakes stop squealing.

Lots of great excuses.

Instead of doing the full-boogie commute, I've been driving my truck or taking the bus from Felton down to Santa Cruz and then riding the last four miles to work. But not this morning.

This morning I pulled a bike from the wall and climbed on it and rolled down the hill in the 44 degree, dark morning air. And it felt great, even with squeal-y brakes.

I know what I get for riding my bike to work - I get near boundless energy, mental and physical. I get better focus. I get better interactions with people. I get a feeling of independence. I get calmness.

I think that the world would be a better place if we all rode bikes a little more. That really struck me on my way home from work today. The route I took home put me in downtown Santa Cruz, and at one stoplight I was behind two other guys on bikes. They were just plain guys like me - wearing street clothes and carrying their stuff. At the light, one of them turned around and was kind of surprised to see me there. I said "hi" and looked him in the eye. He said "hey" and looked back ahead. Then he turned back around and said "hi" like he really meant it. The light turned green and we all went our separate ways. It may sound weird, but there was a connection there that we don't get when we drive cars. And I think that's what we need more of in this world - a connection, even brief, with the people we share our world with. That connection just isn't possible when we wrap two tons of steel and glass around ourselves.

On another note: It's the rainy season in California. I took some pictures today around the office of all my cold and wet weather bike crap tossed around the office to air it out. The requirements are not many - so long as it allows maximum airflow.

For example, my tights strung over a rod in the bathroom.

My gloves resting on the entry table (they weren't wet).

My Icebreaker top draped over my top tube.

Another Icebreaker hanging off a mirror in my office.

And this is totally not related, but I found it interesting, in a Mr. Rogers sort of way. Every day, the last thing I do before leaving work is to move the little slider on my calender to the following day. So it's all set up for me tomorrow when I come in. Systems.

Adria gets the H1N1 flu vaccine

Adria and I had the entire weekend off together, a benefit of her awesome new schedule (two days on, four days off), but rare lately because we've both been working and travelling a lot.

So when she reminded me that Saturday was the day that she was scheduled to get the H1N1 flu vaccine, and that we were going to Watsonville, where the county was giving away free vaccines, I knew that we would be spending all day waiting in line with half of the county's population. But at least we'd be together.

Before we left the house we packed books and snacks. I thought to myself, "I should grab a lawn chair, too", but didn't do it. When we got close to the Youth Center where the vaccinations were being given, we saw people walking away with books and lawnchairs. Dang it!

We scored a parking spot right across the street (we've had great parking karma lately).

When we got out of the truck, Adria mentioned that that the line stretched all the way down the street and around the corner.

OK, so maybe our parking karma wasn't so good.

Instead of walking down the street and around the corner, though, Adria walked up to a heavyset guy standing at the front door. He was wearing a flourescent orange vest. She showed him a couple of documents and he parted the velvet ropes, let us pass, and directed us to the front of another line that snaked through the hallways, and past a foosball table with butcher paper draped over it. We went to the front of that line and Adria showed a lady the same documents. She was wearing a flourescent orange vest, too. She wiggled us to the front of another line, then pointed across the crowded gymnasium floor to another long line.

As we navigated the rows of tables surrounded by lab technicians, screaming kids, and people wearing surgical masks, I found myself wondering a few things:

1. "We are gonna get jumped for cutting in line."

2. "How is it that we are getting moved to the front of these lines?"

3. "This is kinda cool!"

We made it across the gymnasium floor that had another long line of people queued in front of it. We got the lady's attention who was in charge of this line and Adria showed her her documents. She moved us into a line that we waited in for about two minutes. When we were standing there, I asked Adria "What were you showing all of these people that got us out of waiting in line?"

Her response: "My firefighter ID."

the catch-up post

I've been putting all of my blogging efforts into my fundraising blog (Commute for a Cause), since the first round of it is nearly over, but here's what's been happening besides that.

Last weekend huge waves were pounding Santa Cruz beaches. I didn't surf, but I did get out take some pictures. Since my camera is very wide-angle with a short zoom, I didn't get any good pics of the size of the waves, though.

This picture was taken on Saturday, when I rode down to Santa Cruz from Felton. I stopped at about a half dozen surf spots to see what was happening. There was a different type of energy on the beaches this day. Each beach handled the swell differently, and the best beach was this one. There was picture-perfect view that I expect to see in a surfing magazine...a half-dozen figures standing on the cliffs, totally backlit, so all you see is silhouettes. Some are sitting on the rocks, some are standing. They are all fixated on what's going on in the water below them, about fifty feet away. A small pack of surfers takes off on a super-consistent wave that is breaking close to shore. Each surfer gets barrelled after a short set-up, then paddles back out. Like a ride at an amusement park, they all just waited in line and knew what they were going to get.

When Adria got home on Sunday, we went down to West Cliff to watch a big surf contest, the O'Neill Cold Water Classic that's held at Steamer Lane every year. We packed snacks for the excursion - wheatgrass/apple/lime juice and PB&J&B sandwiches (that's peanut butter and jelly and banana).

In addition to big waves, the change in seasons has also brought us back into "nesting" mode. The last couple of meals I've made for us have been total comfort food. Comforting because they are warm and earthy, and also because they are the two meals that I prepared for Adria on our first couple of dates. One of them was homemade pumpkin ravioli with a butter-sage sauce.

Homemade ravioli is a labor of love, and Adria recognized and appreciated the effort on our first date. I think that's the real reason I think of it as comfort food.

The other dish is one that Adria has lovingly renamed "Peace On Earth." I made it for us on our second or third date.

It's not much to look at when you're making it, because it's really nothing more than a three-bean stew that's served over polenta. It's warm and hearty and earthy (black-eyed peas!). To put it simply, this dish is one of the defining moments in our relationship! So defining in fact, that you may see it at our wedding! Seriously.

On a different food angle, Adria's gotten me hooked on PB&J&B. I ate two at work yesterday.

I took Greta to work with me yesterday for the first time. Our office has up to four dogs in at at any moment, so dogs at work aren't a novelty. But Greta did get a lot of attention!

Greta chills on her bed in my office...

Greta ponders the logistics challenges of organic produce...

Chyna and Greta prepare to meet...

Greta checks out Carla's recycling bin to make sure she's not co-mingling...

Greta greets Renae on the stairs...

Greta at my side...

So *that's* what they feel like!

I went to my hand doc, a reconstructive and plastic surgeon, today so he could have another look at the ropy, knotty growth of tissue that is causing me some pain and limited mobility in my left hand. The disorder is called Dupytren's Contracture.

We talked about treatment, and decided on a steroid shot to help with the pain.

The doc said, "OK, let's numb your hand and do this," as he left the room.

He came back and instructed me to lay my hand palm up on the table.

"Hold this in your palm. It's cold and will numb your hand

for the shot."

He put this in my hand.

Did I mention that he's a plastic surgeon?

On the way home, I saw this van and cracked up.

more follow-up to Best Job Ever

Adria is on a strike team down south near LA, working on the Station Fire.

She sent these pictures from her phone.

An engine...



A 747 just after it dropped retardant...



Adria, on a break from doing structure protection. These "structures" happened to be a movie set!


Adria feeding a baby kangaroo. I texted her back asking her if it was an extra from the Crocodile Dundee movie set she was protecting. No answer yet...

just another Santa Cruz day

It has been unseasonably hot in Santa Cruz the last few days.

I surfed this morning, not because the waves were great, but because I knew the cold water would feel good.

In between sets, I struck up a conversation with a couple from Sacramento. They asked where I live and I said "Right up there, on the corner." She replied, "Oh, you're one of the lucky ones."

After my surf, I took Greta for a romp on the beach...

...where she won at digging the best holes. When a wave would fill the hole with water, she would plop down it in and just look around. Like she planned it that way.

I ran into a friend of mine, Sun, and his son Wyatt, on East Cliff...

...and I saw my friend Ron checking out these surfboards for sale.

what does it mean...

...when I see a question mark in the sky?

bikes may use full lane

I participated in a memorial bike ride on Sunday to raise awareness of the need for bike-friendly routes and signage in Santa Cruz. In the last few years two bicyclists have been killed on Mission St., a major artery through Santa Cruz. I've heard Mission called by it's moniker "Mission Impossible" by people who have no choice but to use it - and these are people who have to do it in CARS! Aggravated drivers, mixed with bicyclists who need to use it as well, create a real unsafe mess. I am not scared riding in traffic, taking the lane. Unless it's on Mission. And luckily, I NEVER have to ride it. 

But on this day, there was safety in numbers. There were nearly 60 bicyclists - from fixies, to tandems, to mountain bikes, to recumbents, to commuters, to cruisers. We took over the right lane, used hand signals, stopped at stop signs and red lights, allowed pedestrians to cross, and generally tried to show cars that we are not blocking traffic, we ARE traffic. 

Quick! Fixed or not? 

Honk if you love bikes, the sign reads. I wonder if that's really why the cars were honking?

This guy calls himself Cat. Go figure. I think he's a retired carpenter, judging from his hands and the funny shaped pencil he was using to trace the route. 

Peace. One of the tangible benefits of riding bikes. 

greta garden kisses

I strolled through Adria's garden this afternoon to see what's happening.

I sat on the gravel, inches from the new veggie bed she created recently for chard and peas, with the intention of taking a few pictures of the plants. 

Greta came over and laid this one on me.

I like dogs, but I don't like dogs licking me. 

Greta's figured that out, I think, because she usually just does a fly-by with her big schnoz, and never really tries to make contact with her tongue. 

But she fooled me this time. Dang her!

the week in pictures

We have a new addition to the quiver - a Trek 520 for Adria. Here she is at Spokesman watching as they put the finishing touches on it before we went for a shakedown ride. 

A shot from our shakedown ride - a 30 miler into the Aptos hills. I think when this shot was taken we had stopped to either look at the map or look for wild blackberries, when Adria looked down and commented "Look! Our bikes like each other!"

Took a spin in "Big Al" at work - it's a show truck that one of our transportation vendors uses for promotions. 

Greta guarding the quiver, with the newest (until Saturday) getting rebuilt on the workbench.

The progress I've made on the Schwinn re-build. This is the '73 I bought a few weeks ago, with plans on converting it to an around-town-fixie.

An up-close shot of the clunky parts they used back in '73 on bikes. 

Every evening I write down something that I'm grateful for. Lately, I've felt so much gratitude for Adria's efforts in the garden. The tomatoes are coming in!

There's a story behind this one, that you will soon hear about in person, or read about here.

What we're having for dinner tonight.